A Harry and Hermione story
by HermionePotter77
Summary: What happens when the golden trio goes back to Hogwarts for their '7th year' after winning the war? Not sure where the story is going yet, so i can't give much of a summary. Rating may change in future.
1. Chapter 1

A/N This is my first story soooo sorry if you think it sucks, no flames please, I take constructive criticism (in fact I welcome it! It is the only way I can improve) but I don't want comments saying I suck unless after 'you suck' you put ways in which I can improve my writing, if you just don't like the story then don't read it, no one is forcing you.

Hermione boarded the Hogwarts Express and started examining the compartments looking for her two best friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. She hadn't seen them since they had won the war, months ago, and was dyeing to see them again. Sure, they wrote a few letters but it wasn't the same. They had all decided to go back to Hogwarts to attend their final year, even though the year before was supposed to be their final one. Ron had gone home after the war to grieve with his family, Hermione had gone to find and return the memories to her parents and spend time with them before resuming school again, Harry who hated going to his aunts stayed for as long as he could helping with the rebuilding of the school, but eventually was told to go home for the last three weeks to let his family know that he was safe and sound, as if they cared.

"Hermione! Over here!" she heard a familiar voice call from down the aisle. She looked up and saw Harry waiving his arm to get her attention. She smiled and lugged her suitcase to the compartment Harry and Ron occupied and hugged Ron tight, I really had missed them.

"I've missed you guys so much! How was your summer, Ron?" I asked him after letting him go so I could move into the compartment with my things.

"It was alright" he said "I'm just glad to be back, any longer with my family and I would of gone completely bonkers." He added with a smile. We all laughed, because in truth, just a few days at the Weasley's house were enough to drive a person crazy. I wrapped my arms around Harry's waist and he brought me in to him for a warm embrace, I inhaled slightly taking in his sent

'_Mmm, he smells good, I wonder if he got some new cologne?'_ I shook my head to get rid of the thought _'Where in the world did that come from?'_

"And you Harry? How was your summer? Did the Dursley's treat you right?" I asked genuinely concerned, I knew summer at their house was hard for Harry, even if he had only been there a few weeks.

"Ah, no worse than usual" Harry said smiling, before winking and letting go of me so he could put my trunk up on the racks for me as I moved into the compartment.

"Why, thank you Harry, who knew you were such a gentlemen at heart?" I said mocking him before taking my seat next to Ron.

Harry preforms an over exaggerated bow in my direction while saying 'I do try, I'm glad somebody finally sees what a catch I am" before taking his across from the two of us.

We all laughed and then Ron piped in "Don't tell him things like that, Hermione! It all goes to his head" he said with a smile before adding "and Merlin knows it is already big enough as it is!"

By then the train had already left the station and we were on our way to Hogwarts, I had a feeling that although this was our last year at Hogwarts, it would certainly be the best. As if reading my mind, Harry said

"I can't believe this is our last year, Hogwarts has been such a big part of our lives for so long, and because of Voldemort, we haven't had much of a chance to enjoy it"

"I know, although I expect it will be boring now that we don't have some sort of adventure going on" I said with a smile

"You never know" Ron said nudging me "there could be something else waiting for us this year."

"Ron!'" Harry and I both said loudly "Don't jinx us!" Harry continued

"Yea, I don't know about you two but I think I have had enough adventure to last a life time." I finished with a grin. We talked about our summer and what we were looking forward to in this next year until we arrived at Hogwarts.

A/N there you have it! Chapter one! What do you think? I know its hard to tell whether the story is good or not based on this chapter because, well, nothing has really happened BUT I am currently writing (if I haven't already done so) the next 2 chapters where things start to get interesting. And keep in mind this IS a H/Hr story sooooo Ron is the annoying person I see him as so no flames about that please. Feel free to comment or PM me if you have any ideas for the story or if I have any of the facts wrong, and I will do my best to fix them but this ISNT the book so a few things will be changed… Thanks for reading! Please leave a review, and favorite. Again, this is my first story so help me out here thx! Harry's POV should be coming up here quick… I think the 3rd chapter will be his… or the middle of the second. Hope you continue to read and enjoy!

P.S I am thinking about getting a beta for this story, if you think I need one, tell me and if your interested PM me


	2. Chapter 2

"_Yea, I don't know about you two but I think I have had enough adventure to last a life time." I finished with a grin. We talked about our summer and what we were looking forward to in this next year until we arrived at Hogwarts._

**Chapter 2**

As they pulled into Hogsmead station all three of us drew over to the window trying to look and see the castle, even Harry who was there for most of the reconstruction was still eager to see the differences in the familiar sight, although most of the differences would lie_ inside_ the castle because the outer walls were repaired to look the same as before.

The train lurched to a halt at the station and we stayed seated waiting for most of the other people to get off of the train before we tried to push our way through. After about five minutes we stood and left the train. Harry and Ron were deep in a discussion about quidditch when I spotted a younger girl – a first year- looking around a little frightened, I walked over to her and asked her

"Hey, are you okay?"

"No, I had to run back on the train to grab something that fell out of my pocket, I didn't want to leave it and risk losing it, it is too important to me" she said a little uncertainly. It was then that I noticed that she had a picture clutched tight in her hands

'_That must be what she went back to get…. I wonder who the picture is of?' I asked myself 'It most likely is her family and she brought it because she knew she would be homesick' I concluded._

Just then a boy that also looked to be a first year ran over and said "There you are Alice, I have been looking all over for you. I saw you leave the group and you didn't come back so I stayed behind when the others left to come find you."

"Oh Thanks Jace, I had to go get something off the train, I didn't think they would notice it when getting our things off of the train to take to our rooms" she said to him blushing a little at the fact that he had stayed to look for her.

'Awww, how sweet!'

Just then I felt someone lightly touch my back and before I could even realize it I had pulled my wand out and had it aimed at the person behind me before I could even blink, I realized it was harry and quickly lowered my wand, the war had its side effects.

"Oh! Sorry Harry I-" I was cut off by Harry who said

"I know Mione it happens to me too" I smiled slightly at him before asking

"Where is Ron?"

"He said he was hungry so I told him to go ahead without us and that I would wait for you" harry told me

'_Of course he is always hungry!'_ I thought as she put her wand away and turned to the two first years in front of them, Jace and Alice.

"Well, you two are going to miss the boat ride to the castle all of the other first years get BUT you get to be the only first years who have gotten to ride in the carriages" I told them

"Pshh the boat ride is overrated anyway" harry said with a grin, I rolled my eyes before saying "Well if we don't hurry, they will be the only first years to have _walked_ to the castle."

"Ugh not again, I hate when we have to walk it, it is too bloody far" harry said

"Harry!" I hissed "Don't curse in front of them! You are supposed to be an example!" Harry looked away sheepishly and blushed saying "Sorry guys, pardon my French" before everyone started laughing, I tried not to but I couldn't help but crack a smile at it.

"Then my mom knows how to speak fluent French, you should have heard her last week when she saw my cellphone bill!" Jace said with a smile

"It is Hermione right?" Alice asked and I nodded before saying "and this is Harry"

"Wait- Harry potter?" Jace asked astonished and Harry nodded kind of embarrassed, he didn't really like the fame that came with the title 'The Boy Who Lived'.

"That's so cool! My dad told me a lot of stories about you," he said and then unexpectedly added "I am sorry about your mum and dad" Harry and Hermione were shocked, when Harry recovered he said

"Thanks, Jace I think you are the first person ever to say that to me other than close friends of my parents, everyone else is too worried about the fame, thank you"

"No problem" Jace mumbled embarrassed at the praise. A few seconds later Harry asked him

"Do you like quidditch?"

'_Oh no here we go, it's like Harry and Ron all over again' I thought to myself rolling my eyes and winking at Alice who had the same expression on her face._

"Well duh! It's only, the best sport ever!" Jace exclaimed as they walked towards the carriages and climbed in "I can already play a little bit, my dad and brother have been teaching me how at home.

"Well that's good, if you want you can come to the try outs and tell me what you think of the players, who I should put on the team and what position and stuff" Harry told him

"Really? That would be awesome! Thanks." Jace said happily

Harry Just laughed and told him it was no problem and that he needed someone impartial to help him choose the team.

"How long have you two been together?" Alice asked them after a moment of silence

"Harry and I? We- um- are not boyfriend and girlfriend" I stuttered "Just best friends" Harry chuckled clearly amused by my loss for words so I elbowed him

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Oops sorry, did that hurt?" I asked innocently faking concern

"Oh that's it granger you're going down!" Harry said as the carriage pulled to a stop at the castle I jumped out and took off running trying to get away from Harry who tackled me and starting tickling me

"Harry stop—please?—harry!" I begged between fits of laughter he stopped for a moment in order to say

"Apologize for hurting me" he smiled smugly

"Never! I tried to get away but in seconds he had me pinned down and was tickling me again

"Ok! Ok!—you win! I am sorry for being mean and hurting you Harry!" I said breathlessly

"Good girl" he said getting up off me and pulling me to my feet. Alice and Jace were standing a few feet away smirking and whispering to one another. After catching her breath she said

"Ok we have to get you two to the rest of the first years so you can be sorted into your houses" they hurried into the castle and took them to the chamber where all of the first years wait in before going into the great hall to be sorted.

"Ok you two, be good" she said to them

"But- what if we get put into Slytherin?" Jace asked

"Slytherin is not as bad as it seems, a professor that helped a great deal in the war if from Slytherin" Harry told him comfortingly

"But, still I don't want to be put into a house with all of the stuck kids" Alice chipped in

"Ok, I will tell you a secret as long as you swear that you won't tell all of your friends, deal?" Harry asked and I smiled knowingly, the same thing had happened to me the sorting hat was considering Ravenclaw but I asked for Gryffindor and that's what I got.

"Deal" both of them said at once I smiled at how eager they were to hear what he had to say.

"If you tell the sorting hat you don't want to be in that house then it most likely won't put you there, just whisper anything but Slytherin and you should be safe" harry whispered to the two of them

"Really?" Jace whispered and harry nodded his head in confirmation, and that's when Headmistress McGonagall walked in to user them into the great hall

"Ms. Granger, Mr. Potter" she said nodding to each of us in turn "Nice to see you both again, but what are you doing with the first years?" she asked

"These two got left behind so we brought them here where we knew everyone would be waiting" Hermione explained nodding to Alice and Jace who were looking at the floor afraid they would be in trouble

"Very well then, thank you both, you may go into the great hall and take your seats to watch the sorting" she said dismissing the two of them with a small smile.

Harry and Hermione smiled back and walked to the Great Hall and looked for Ron, when they spotted him they rushed over and sat down Harry and Ron on one side of the table and Hermione on the other. They watched the sorting and cheered when a kid was sorted into Gryffindor, and cheered even louder and smiled at one another when Alice and Jace were sorted into Gryffindor. Then Headmistress McGonagall got up and gave her welcome speech

"… and now onto another important topic, our new prefects are…" she proceeded to list off people in which she had heard of before but didn't actually know she continued with "now to our Head girl and Head boy of Gryffindor…. Hermione Granger" everybody cheered and I stood up and gave a small wave before sitting down "and Harry Potter" the cheers got even louder and I cheered along with them. I glanced over and saw Ron he looked livid

'_What in the world?'_ I thought to _myself 'why is he so mad at Harry that he became head boy? It is not Harry's fault that he was chosen'_

"Prefects, please escort everyone to their houses, Goodnight see you all in the morning" she said stepping down from the podium.

Harry, Ron, and I headed for the dormitories when Harry, getting annoyed by Ron's bad mood asked her what was wrong with him.

"You weren't even a prefect Harry, I just don't think it is right that she chose you when you didn't have to work for it like the rest of us" was Ron's reply as he pushed his way through the crowd ahead of us.

"What? I didn't work for it? Neither did he! He neglected his prefect duties completely!" Harry said slightly pissed off

"Harry you know Ron he is just jealous, it'll blow over, lets head up to our rooms" I said trying to change topics

"I thought that's what we were doing Mione" harry said clearly confused

"No our dorms are this way, didn't you head boy and head girl had a different set of dorms?" I asked him

"No…." Harry said "THAT is why Ron is upset about him not being head boy" he said in realization

"What do you mean?" I asked

"Well, um Mione he DOES still like you and you two were practically dating…." Harry said not finishing his sentence, but he didn't need to as the realization hit me

"Oh" I said

"yea he probably thought that since you two would have complete privacy that you two would get… uh…. closer" Harry said I cleared my throat before saying

"yeah, well to be honest I'm not that interested in him anymore… a lot happened over the summer that made me realize some things about myself that and the war changed all of us" I spoke so quietly that he had to strain to hear her clearly.

"Mione" Harry said grabbing my arm and pulling me into a hug in front of the portrait that would lead to our dorms "I am here if you want to talk about it, I always have been and always will be" he finished before he released me. I smiled tentatively at him and turned towards the portrait. It was a picture of… well it was hard to tell the figure wore a cloak and sat on a horse with a sword in his hand…. Wait a minute… that's… Godric Gryffindor's Sword… Which mean that must be…

"Harry that's-" I was cut off by Harry finishing my comment

"Godric Gryffindor, I know I hid the sword with him"

"You did what? When, why?" I asked confused

"After the war during reconstruction I came across him picture and decided that the best place for it was with him, in case there ever came a time it was needed" he explained "I bet that's why McGonagall put the picture HERE knowing I would be head boy" he finished with a smile

"Don't flatter yourself" I said smiling at him

"Well are you two done already?"

We both jumped at the sound of the voice before realizing it came out of the picture

"Um yes I supposed so..." I said a little flustered at his rudeness the portrait swung open and we walked in "On the desk should be the password this is the one and only time I will let you through without it" and with that the portrait slammed shut.

"He has to be the nicest person I have ever met!" I said sarcastically with a wink at Harry

"Look here is says our password is 'Sodalis vitae'?" he said struggling over the two words

"Hmm I wonder what that means?" said Hermione "I guess I could look it up, it is rather odd"

"If you want to, I'm more worried about being able to pronounce it when I need to get in here" he said and I laughed wholeheartedly.

"Well, then I guess you'll have to keep me around for a while" I replied with a smirk.

Harry and I both went into our own rooms to see what it looked like. I opened a door that lead to a closet and then another leading to a huge bathroom with a bathtub with curtains you could pull to enclose it, leaving just enough room to get out and dry off without being seen by anyone else, there was also a shower with glass that disfigured what was on the other side of it. Right then Harry walked in through another door I hadn't noticed before and realization struck.

"Well look like we will be sharing" I told him

"Oh" he said uncertainly "Well we can work it out, one bathes in the morning and one at night…" He said reassuring us both.

"Which do you want morning or night?" I asked him

"I honestly don't care, I guess I can take nights" he said looking to me to make sure it was ok

"Works for me" I replied with a smile while walking back to my room. He followed and leaned against the doorframe, as I tossed my suitcase onto the bed and began to unpack my belongings/ Harry watched me silently unpack my things until I got to a photo of my parents and I from about a year and a half before and stood there staring at it, tears welling up in my eyes. Harry must of noticed because he had a worried look on his face as he walked my way.

"Mione you ok?" he asked taking a few steps towards me

"Oh yea I am fine Harry" I lied and moved to the far side of the bed and placed the picture face down on the table next to it.

"Are you sure?" he asked me not buying my bad attempt at lying

"Yes, Harry. Now go take your shower" I said with a small smile to let him know that even if I am not telling the truth, that I would be fine

"Yes ma'am" he said with a smile before he turned on his heel and marched through the bathroom into his room to get his things before taking his shower. I walked over and closed the door, leaning against it before slowly sinking to a sitting position on the floor.

The war had done more than make me a little jumpy, before I left with Harry to search for Horcruxes, I took my parents memories away so they wouldn't worry while I was gone, if something were to happen to me, they wouldn't have to suffer, and so Voldemort wouldn't get them, they were relocated to Australia. I went after the war to find them and restore their memories, but it wasn't exactly how I pictured it, and looking back, I don't really know what I was expecting it to be like.

They were mad at first, but after I explained they calmed down and they were just grateful I was still alive, but things had changed between them. They started fighting more and talking to one another less and less and all summer it just kept going downhill. I tried my best to find out why, and fix the problem the whole time I was there to no avail, and while the assured me it wasn't anything to do with me, that it was their own faults that it was happening, I knew better. I know it is my fault they are getting divorced not so much because of what I did the THEM it was what happened to my brother, Thomas.

Thomas was 25 and living on his own, I his erased his memories and he was taken into hiding also. Voldemort found him and tried to find out what he could about where we were located, but of course Thomas didn't know a thing. And after torturing him Voldemort finally gave up and gave him truth serum and even under its effects he could tell him as single thing about us. Voldemort killed him in his anger but, thankfully, realized that my parents would be the same and abandoned that route and left my parents alone.

I was shaking uncontrollably and crying as silently as possible so Harry wouldn't hear me as I moved into my bed and curled up and cried until I fell asleep, not that sleep was any better. I have this dream a lot, it is the one where I see my brother being tortured by death eaters, it is beyond sick and horrible, they used countless curses and hexes on him, one after another until the point her was crying and begging for them to kill him, just to do it already. It killed me to watch him like that, my big brother who was always strong, always there for me, my best friend; who is why they left the charm on the door, they wanted to have to satisfaction of knowing that I had to watch it, and live with the memory for the rest of my life. I felt his pain in the dream too, as part of his was from his point of view. I woke up screaming with the flash of green light that ended my brother's life.

A/N This chapter is super long, I know it's like 3 chapter in one, I don't plan on most of them being this long (sorry). It kind of got on my nerves that in the book everyone was o happy at the end, no real side effects from the war other than having to 'rebuild' the school… Ginny didn't do much in the war other than a little bit in the final battle, so she would have NO clue about what they had all gone through so I don't think they would of stayed together so (naturally) I had to write my own story where its Harry and Hermione because personally I think Ron is a bit immature and annoying. Although I guess the war COULD of made him more mature and less annoying but I love Harry so… anyway I hope you liked this chapter and I have the next one ready to be up soon. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_I was shaking uncontrollably and crying as silently as possible so Harry wouldn't hear me as I moved into my bed and curled up and cried until I fell asleep, not that sleep was any better._

**HARRY'S POV**

I quickly took a shower and donned on a white muscle shirt and a pair of pajama pants before walking through the bathroom that connected our bedrooms, and knocked softly on her door.

"Hermione" I whispered in case she had already gone to sleep, there was no answer so I slowly opened her door about half way to check on her. She was fast asleep with her hair going in every direction and she had her lip stuck out a little like she was pouting _'God she is beautiful'_ I thought suddenly to myself _'whoa where did that come from? She is like my sister'_ but it was true, I hadn't really noticed before but she was gorgeous not in the super model way she wasn't super tall or extremely skinny. She was about 5'5 and had filled out nicely over the years, and in addition to that, she was smart, determined and completely loyal. She had stayed by me when no one else would, even when Ron had left us, which had nearly killed her inside I knew, which is why I don't understand what she meant when she had said that she wasn't interested in him anymore, something big must have happened since the war to have made her change so drastically. I noticed that she joked a lot more; she is a lot more laid back when just with us, except when I came up behind her and she pulled her wand on me. I don't blame her though, because even visiting with the Dursely's I had pulled in on Dudley twice when he tried to sneak up behind me, I had apologized and he seemed to get that I wasn't the same anymore, I had changed, killed people, done what I had to do to save the wizarding world even when I thought it meant the death of me, literally. I stood there staring at her wondering what could have changed in such a short period of time

'_Did she meet someone new?'_ I wondered to myself 'the only people she was around were muggles. She wouldn't be seeing one of them would she? Most muggle's freak if they find out about wizards, he would probably run off and leave her heartbroken. Just the thought of someone leaving her like that made my blood boil, it broke MY heart seeing her like that during the war, I wanted to pound Ron in the face after he left her like that. I realized I had just been standing there, staring for about 5 minutes then and softly closed the door but a crack and walked to my room and laid down on top of my bed I had just begun to doze off when I heard a scream.

I jumped up pulling out my wand and rushing into Hermione's room, she was sitting up in bed, panting with a terrified look on her face.

"Harry," her voice broke when she said my name. I could see her eyes well up with tears when I sat down next to her on the bed and wrapped my arms around her in a tight embrace

"Shhh…" I said soothingly "It's alright, it was only a dream" she was curled up against me her head buried in my chest, and she was crying as I held her close and stroked her hair. "it's ok Mione I'm right here" I spoke to her in a soft even voice wondering if her nightmare was the same as mine usually were, mostly about the war, seeing the dead faces of all the people who fought and died to protect me and defeat Voldemort.

"It was horrible, Harry" she choked out "it is all my fault" she said sobbing harder

"What are you talking about Mione, nothing about the war was your fault, what were you dreaming of?" I asked concerned, if it was anyone's fault it was mine.

It took her awhile to answer and when she did, she looked up at me and said "Yes it is, Harry. It's all my fault my parents, Thomas everything is MY fault" she said stifling a sob "When I went and restored my parents memories, nothing was the same the fought about EVERYTHING and now they hate each other and are getting a divorce because of ME what I did… it wasn't just taking away their memories, I did the same, to my brother, Thomas, and they-" more tears ran down her face, she swallowed hard and close her eyes "they got him Harry, they were looking for information about me, to see if I had written to them, so they could find out anything they could about where we were at, if we had found any of the Horcruxes , or anything else they could use against us. They tortured him, for HOURS they tortured him and he couldn't remember anything to make the stop they finally gave him some truth serum to make him tell when they had had their fun, and that was when they realized that he was clueless, which stopped them from bothering to find my parents." She finished the story still crying silently against my chest as I rocked her back and forth

"Hermione I am so sorry," I said trying to convey HOW sorry I was "but that wasn't your fault, you were trying to protect him-" I was cut off by her saying

"no it IS my fault Harry, I should of done something other than erase his memory, I thought he would be safe if he didn't know who I was and my parents were gone but-" she couldn't finished what she wanted to say as fresh tears ran down her face. I felt horrible, in truth it was MY fault that this had happened to her, if I hadn't of let her come, If she hadn't of been friends with me then NONE of this would of happened "Mione" my voice broke and I felt my throat swell up at the guilt I felt, THIS was what had changed, why she didn't want to be with Ron anymore, because even though he had lost his brother, he had bounced back, he wasn't affected by it as much as we were, he just seemed to accept it after a while and moved on, he still sometimes got choked up or quiet when his brother came up, but other than that he was the same old Ron "I am so sorry, if you hadn't of come with me then-" she cut me off

"No harry don't you start blaming yourself, I CHOSE to come with you, and you couldn't of stopped me if you had wanted to" she said with finality, I knew I couldn't argue with her, even if I still felt responsible for her loss.

"how did you find out—he wasn't still" I said not able to finish, cringing at the thought of her brother's body still lying there and her finding it.

"no" Hermione said and I released a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding "They placed some sort of charm on the door so when or if I came to find him, I would see it all, through the eyes of someone who was there, I couldn't tell who it was but-" another round of sobs racked through her body as I held her tighter to me "I can't imagine what that must have been like, I am so, so, so sorry Mione" I said to her not knowing what else to say to make her feel better 'he died for the cause' ? 'He is at peace now'? that wouldn't help anything, only make he feel worse, so I just held her close, learning against the headboard of her bed and her sobs began to cease and her body relaxed into mine and she fell asleep.

I laid there with her curled up next to me, my arms around her and her head on my chest, stroking her hair. I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, before realizing what I had done_. 'What is wrong with me today, first thinking she is beautiful, and now this?_' I lied there confused, staring at her tear stained face as I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

A/N anddd there you have it! Chapter three I know it isn't near as long as the last one (and most will not be) but I thought that this was a good place to stop, please leave a review! Let me know what you think, what I should improve, or any ideas you have for the rest of the story... I'm not quite sure where the story is going… I have an idea, but I might change my mind, and if I do I need another idea t fall back on, soooo leave your ideas in the reviews, Thanks! Oh and I want to clear something up, I know I sounded like I hated Ron, but I don't I may dislike him, but I am liking his role in the story, so no , Ron will not be the bad guy in my story, from here on there shouldn't be any Ron bashing. :D and the updates will become once a week, I just wanted to upload enough to get you guys interested


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_I laid there with her curled up next to me, my arms around her and her head on my chest, stroking her hair. I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, before realizing what I had done. __'What is wrong with me today, first thinking she is beautiful, and now this?'__ I lied there confused, staring at her tear stained face as I drifted off into a peaceful sleep._

HERMIONE'S POV

I stopped crying and slowly relaxed, letting sleep take over and I swear I felt him kiss me on the head as I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning lying on Harry's chest, him fast asleep, my mind still foggy from crying myself to sleep the night before. I sat there staring at his sleeping face, his looked so peaceful lying there, as if we hadn't just fought and won a war not even a year ago.

'_I could get used to waking up like this'_ I thought before shaking my head to clear it.

I hadn't realized it last night but he had changed into a white tight fitting boys tank that showed off his body, being in quidditch he was strong, his muscles defined and noticeable, but he wasn't overly muscular, he was just right for his size, and in his current shirt it was a lot more noticeable than usual

'_He is so sexy' _I thought to myself _'Ah! There I go again, _what_ is the matter with me?'_

I forced those kinds of thoughts out of my head, but not without a struggle, and got out of my bed and stumbled into the bathroom to take my shower.

Ad I let the hot water wash over me I thought about the changes between Harry and I; before I hadn't had those thought about him. EVER. I knew he was good looking but, in the same way you think your brother is good looking, not the way I am thinking about him now,

'I wonder if he feels the same way?' I wondered to myself 'don't be ridiculous, Hermione, Harry sees you like a sister of course he doesn't see you that way. And besides he has Ginny' she reminded herself 'although…. He hasn't mentioned of bothered to try and see her since the war ended that I am aware of… and I have been writing to the both of them.' I countered 'I wonder if he is going through the same thing as I did with Ron, we just grew apart after the war, it seemed to be much the same way with Harry and Ginny' I pondered this amongst other things as I finished my shower and wrapped a towel around me.

I opened my door a crack to make sure Harry wasn't still in there, when I saw that the coast was clear went in and made sure both doors into my room were locked, before changing into my uniform and robe. I went back into the bathroom to brush my teeth, my hair, and to apply the little bit of makeup I do wear. This consisted of lip gloss, eye liner, a little bit of eye shadow, and some concealer to cover the circles under my eyes from my lack of sleep. I after I was done I put all back into the black makeup bag I had gotten two Christmases' ago, from my mom when she found out I had actually started to wear more than eye shadow, and walked back into my room and threw it on the bed before walking into the common room area of our dorms.

'I guess they didn't want us to be hanging out in one another's rooms' I thought with amusement 'Yet we have to share a bathroom… I guess it is no different than when the prefects had their own bathroom.'

"Morning Mione." I looked up and saw Harry sitting on one of the couches waiting on me to finish up so we could go to the great hall together.

"Morning Harry." I replied with a smile, "You ready to go? Sorry I kept you waiting" I was in a really good mood this morning for no particular reason and Harry, I assume, had picked up on it and gave me a semi-reproachful glance before returning the smile and getting up saying "I wasn't waiting long, I had just gotten up and in my room when your shower cut off."

We walked out of the portrait hole and to the great hall side by side; when we entered we scanned the table looking for Ron, and realized that they were ahead of most of the crowd.

"Huh I didn't even look at the time when I got up this morning." I said to Harry

"Me neither," he glanced down at his watch (one of the few electronics that worked in Hogwarts, as long as you put a charm on them) "Yea we are about five minutes ahead of the rush." he informed me as we made our way over to the table and sat down, a prefect, who's name I don't remember, came by and handed us each our schedules, along with Ron's knowing he would be joining us soon. Since some of the 7th years, were supposed to have graduated the year before they had the opportunity not take certain classes based on their O.W.L.S and what career they were pursuing. For example; you couldn't go and be an herbalist and not take herbology based on your O.W.L.S., you have to take the N.E.W.T level class.

Harry, Ron and I have a special case; we three of the most important roles in the war, so we were granted the opportunity to test out of some credits. Harry was granted the defense against the dark arts, charms, and potions N.E.W.T credits (Snape's or 'the half-blood prince's' book helped him learn a lot, and not to mention the countless hours I spent tutoring him), I was given the same as Harry, (Harry had returned my help by helping me with DATDA.) and while Ron played a big role in the war and helped a lot, he somehow failed all the test but herbology. The teachers were wondering how on earth he survived the war with us, Harry and I knew Ron worked best in real life situations, when he didn't have time to second guess himself, we all did. It was what we were used to, you didn't have to know a specific spell, you could use another or multiple spells to get the desired effect, so while Ron was taking classes pretty much all day with only two free periods (first and third) Harry and I had the whole afternoon off.

While Harry and I were comparing all three of our schedules with one another Ron plopped down across from us.

"Morning Ron!" I said with a smile and Harry echoed my greeting

"Morning." Ron answered gruffly, he wasn't much of a morning person, but the sight of food cheered him immensely as we handed him his schedule.

"How was your night?" I asked him trying to start a conversation

"Fine," he said "What about yours?" he asked not looking up at me, since he was too busy loading his plate with pancakes

"It was good I had a great night's sleep, and I haven't had one of those in a while." I replied glancing over and giving Harry a small smile in thanks, in which he returned. I had no doubt that if he hadn't been there that I would have woken again from the same nightmare.

When we turned away from one another Ron was looking intensely at us, glancing between us. "What's going on with you two?" he asked

"What do you mean?" I asked him _'was there something going on between us?'_ I asked myself but quickly told myself that it wasn't possible.

"Something is different." Ron stated still pushing for an answer

"Nothing is different, Ron," Harry said looking him in the eyes. Ron didn't look convinced but dropped the subject with a grunt, going back to eating his food. I left out a breath I hadn't notice I had been holding in relief_. 'Wait what was I relieved about? It was the truth, right?' _I asked myself uncertainly, not knowing the answer.

When breakfast was over Harry and I headed to class while Ron went to the Gryffindor dorms, all of our schedules were the same except for first and third period which only Harry and I had in common, because those were Ron's free periods, and then the afternoon in which Harry and I had off. They had given us all of our free periods in the afternoon so we could have plenty of time to finish our work and get a little sleep before having to get up and patrol the halls. But luckily for us, Harry still had the Marauder's map, sour job should be pretty easy, we only have to watch from 10:30 to 12, and the prefects are to patrol it from 9 to 10:30.

Harry and I went from class to class together until finally lunch rolled around.

"Ugh I am glad class is over…" I stated and Harry and Ron's heads whipped around to look at my incredulously

"Hermione Granger GLAD class is over?" Ron asked astonished

"It looks like we have rubbed off after all of these years!" Harry said with a smile

"Ha ha very funny," I said suppressing a smile and rolling my eyes "It is just so weird being back in class… I feel caged in, you know?" I said trying to explain but feeling kind of embarrassed about it.

"Well, that's what I have ALWAYS felt!" Ron said "But I see what you mean, since the war it has been worse, I just put it off as it being our last year and I am excited to get out of here."

"I know what you mean Mione, it's the same with me too, ever since the war, and I feel weird just SITTING there…. I feel like I should be up doing SOMETHING." Harry said sharing my feelings exactly.

"It is like you read my mind," I told him as we stepped outside. I took a deep breath in, I loved the fresh air, I had gotten so used to it after months of traveling with Harry and Ron, and I feel off when I am in the city now.

After lunch Ron went off to the rest of his classes and Harry and I went back to our dorms to completely the little bit of homework we had and to get ahead on the next few days' lessons.

The next few weeks consisted of going to class, homework, studying, and just hanging out without much of an event, until September 12th when they were both tired of sitting in the castle with all of the free time on their hands, they had been almost inseparable the first 3 weeks of school.

-September 12th-

I sat up and stretched after about an hour and a half of work and turned to Harry who was looking at me with an odd expression on his face

"What?" I asked him

"Nothing just was thinking about something else," Harry said looking back down at his book for a minute, finishing the page he was on, before closing it and stretching also. I saw his abs peak out a little bit as he did so and could barely tear my gaze away.

"It is only two o'clock." he told me, glancing at his watch.

"Hmm… what do you want to do?" I asked him

"You want to go to Hogsmead?" he asked

"Are we allowed to?"

"Yea we are since we technically were supposed to already have graduated, they are allowing us to go, as long as we are not caught skipping classes, we have to carry the ID's they gave all of the returning 7th years, with us so if anyone is suspicious they can look at the back and see our schedules" he informed me

"Ok then sure, I'd love to" I told him with a smile standing to go to my room "but let me change first? I don't want to wear the uniform…" I told him walking into my room

"Sure, I'm going to do the same." Harry said as I closed my door and walked to my closet. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a Three day grace T-shirt that used to belong to my brother, it was a little big on me but still looked OK, and a jacket and threw them all on before reapplying my lip gloss and grabbing coin pouch and getting out few galleons putting them into my pocket, before walking out of my room. Harry was standing there in a pair of faded blue jeans and a plain black long sleeved shirt that looked really good on him.

"You look nice." Hermione said looking him up and down.

"You too," he said "I wouldn't have taken you for a Three Days Grace fan." he said jokingly

I laughed and said "Well, it was Thomas's favorite band, so I listened to it every now and then, until he died, now I listen to it all of the time." I told him with a tiny smile "This was his shirt, I had bought him two tickets to a concert a few years ago thinking he could take a friend or a girl friend or something but instead he took me." I finished with a smile, remembering that crazy night and how I ended up copying his whole playlist onto my computer so I could listen to it, he had a variety of stuff like Chevelle, Three days Grace, Cage the elephant, Daughtry, etc.

"It looks good on you." Harry told me with a smile as we walked out of the dorm and headed to Hogsmead. I pulled out an MP3 player and handed harry one ear bud, he looked at me questioningly

"I charmed this, like I Charmed your watch, as long as it takes batteries and doesn't have to be charged, then it can work inside Hogwarts." I explained to him.

He shook his head and we put the ear buds into our ears. Broken by Lifehouse filled our ear drums, I started singing along under my voice as we walked to the village, when the song ended I looked over and saw Harry staring at me, I blushed as I realized that he had been listening to me sing, I quickly started the next song which was Comatose by Skillet. Harry as if trying to keep me from feeling embarrassed sang along to the chorus of the song smiling at me, I laughed as he started to sing louder. He wasn't bad either, in fact he was pretty damn good, I smiled watching him sing the song as we arrived in Hogsmead and I put the MP3 player away.

When we got to Hogsmead, we ducked into Honeydukes. I bought a small bag of gummy bears, Harry got a chocolate frog (Ron and He still collect them), and from there we just went from shop to shop looking around and talking. In one I saw this necklace that I instantly fell in love with. It was a small emerald heart on a sterling silver chain with silver accents and a little diamond right above it. Unfortunately I had my heart broken when I glanced at the price tag, it is not that it was unreasonable, it was just more than I wanted to spend, maybe if it was still here when the school year was up, and I had enough money left over, I would buy it.

I turned around to look at Harry "Where to next?" I asked him.

"Hmm… How about we go grab something to drink at the Three Broomsticks?" he asked me in return.

"Sounds great" I replied.

"Why don't you go grab us a table, I have to go grab something really quick." he told me once we were standing outside of the store.

I gave him a curious look before saying "Ok, you want a butterbeer, right?" I asked him.

"Yes please," he said with a smile before watching me walk away.

'_I wonder what he has to go get…' _I walked into the Three Broomsticks and grabbed two seats at the bar, ordered two butterbeers, and sat and waited for Harry.

HARRY'S POV

I watched Hermione walk away, making sure she didn't turn back to see what it was I was doing. I turned and went back into the shop we had just come out of, and went to the necklace I had seen Hermione looking at. I know she loved it, up until she checked the price tag; I went over and glanced at it. I could see why she wouldn't just buy it for herself, she was like that, conservative with her money, sure she would buy herself things like the candy earlier, but she never splurged on herself. I picked up the necklace and walked to the counter, again checking behind me to make sure Hermione hadn't come back to look for me.

I smiled at the lady as I put the necklace down on the counter along with the required amount of galleons. Hermione's birthday was coming up in about 3 weeks and I knew this would make a perfect present for her. The lady carefully placed the necklace in a plain brown bad and put tissue paper in the top of it.

"She must be pretty special to you, for you to buy this for her." The lady said giving me a knowing look.

I smiled and explained "She's my best friend, and her birthday is September 19th and I saw the way she looked at this and knew I had to get it for her."

"Mmhm," she said not looking convinced "I saw the way you looked at her."

"What do you mean?" I asked confused

"And the way she looked at you for that matter, I remember what it was like to be in love." she said with a wistful smile on her lips.

I thanked her and left the shop feeling confused. I knew my feelings for Hermione had changed, earlier when she stretch I couldn't help but stare at her. I thought back to the song I sang for her earlier, it described my feelings for her perfectly, ever since that first night, sleeping with her in my arms, I haven't been able to fall asleep or wake up without thinking about her. But did I LOVE her? I told myself that I didn't and that even if I did, she couldn't feel the same way.

'But wait—the lady in the shop had said that she had seen the way Hermione had looked at me also, did that mean- no' I concluded 'that lady just didn't know what she was talking about.'

But then again even Ron, Alice and Jace noticed… I will just have to see where things go from here I decided. I walked into the Three Broomsticks and spotted Hermione sitting at the bar, taking a sip of her butterbeer. I made my way over and sat down next to her, putting the bag on the floor under my feet.

"What did you have to go back and get?" she asked curiously

"Oh I had saw something in one of the shops that I thought Ron might like." I lied taking a sip of my drink

"Oh ok." she said apparently believing my lie. I didn't like lying to her but in this case, I told myself that it was OK because, it was about her present, nothing big. I glanced down at my watch to see that it was 4:30 pm, it started getting dark around 6 but we still didn't want to get in trouble for being out so late since we didn't know when the curfew was for Hogsmead. We finish our butterbeers and I left the money for them on the bar before we left and started our journey back to the castle.

"You have an amazing voice." I told her, thinking about earlier when she had sung not knowing I was listening.

"Thanks." she said blushing and looking away

"I'm serious Mione!" I said waiting for her to meet my eyes, when she did she smiled and said

"So do you! Who would have guessed that you could sing! You have to hope that doesn't get around or that will be one more reason all the girls find you irresistible, even I have to admit you sounded pretty sexy earlier" she said walking backwards facing me.

I groaned "Dear merlin no! They never leave me alone! I wasn't the only one who fought in the war you know—wait did you just say I sounded sexy?" I asked looking at her

"Well, um yea I guess," she said embarrassed, "but don't let it go to your head." she said trying to change the subject, that was when she tripped, I quickly caught her and put her upright

We were right up against one another; I could feel her breath breeze across my lips. I stared at her lips feeling the pull to lean down, and brush my lips against hers. I stopped myself from doing so by pulling my gaze to her eyes,

"Are you alright?" I asked breathlessly she slowly lifted her gaze from my lips to my eyes before pulling away clearing her throat.

"Yea, I'm fine, thanks Harry." she said turning around to walk straight this time. My mind was still reeling on what just happened. Could she possibly feel the same way I do?

A/N oooo so they almost kissed! (yay!) It is also longer then i planed for most of my chapters, so it kind of looks like the chapters are going to be 1000 to 3000+ words. Chapter two was over 3000 and this one is 3787 words long including this A/N, so who knows? I think I will bring our little friends, Jace and Alice back into the story…what do you think? Should Jace give Harry some relationship advice? Oh and I need an idea on what they should fight about? I have been thinking about it but I only have one or two ideas… there is going to be a 'Halloween ball' in like two chap. If that helps, let me know if you have any ideas! Hope you liked it pleaseeeee review! It encourages me, and I, of course am still looking for ideas and tips! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed on the last couple of chapters, when I get the next couple of chapters written I will go back and fix the problems with the last 3 chapters *mostly one and two* and I also want to say I know I said stuff about Ron in my A/N's but I want to say that I am not going to make him the bad guy, he isn't heartless, I know that, and I know it sounded like I completely hated him, but I don't, I just don't think he is right for Hermione at all. I just wanted you guys to know that I won't have him become the new Voldemort and try to kill Harry to take Hermione for himself, he is going to find someone of his own pretty soon… ;D

Chapter 5 coming up soon!


	5. AN

**A/N: sorry guys this isn't a new chapter.**

**I need a little help in the next couple of chapters…. I have a good idea where the story is going from here and an outline of what is to happen in the next couple of chapters but I need help with some of it.**

**I need SOMETHING for them to fight about, in my mind I can't think of anything, but every couple has its fights right? I need one for BEFORE they finally get together. **

**Ideas for HOW they get together… I'm thinking at the Halloween ball? Should Harry ask her and then at the ball they realize they are 'in love' with one another, or would that be too early? I Can't really take too long or the story will get boring…**

**I am having Ron, Alice, and Jace play matchmakers… how should all of that play out, any ideas? I am thinking at the Quidditch tryouts Harry asked Jace to come to…**

**Any other tips or ideas you may have about what should be in the story...**


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